Star Wars - Lost Tribe of the Sith 01 - Precipice Read Online Free PDF

Korsin appeared on the twice-trodden trail, pulling a makeshift sledge crafted from a mess table. With thermal blankets and the remaining foodpaks heaped upon it, Korsin had needed the help of the Force a few times to get it down the mountain. Straps from pouches cut into his shoulders and neck, leaving ugly welts. The single campfire had become several. He was glad to see them.
    Ravilan appeared glad to see him, too, after an initial surprised reaction. “The beacon! Is it working?”
    “I pushed the button myself,” Korsin announced.
    “And?”
    “And we wait.”
    Ravilan’s eyes narrowed in the smoky haze. “You know where we are? You spoke to someone?” Korsin’s attention had already turned to unloading the packs to anxious crewmembers. Ravilan lowered his voice. “Where … are your Massassi?”
    Korsin didn’t look up. “All dead. You don’t think I wanted to do this myself, do you?”
    The quartermaster’s crimson face paled a little. “No, of course not—Commander.” He looked back at the summit, fading in the surrounding darkness. “Perhaps others of us could have a look at the transmitter. We might—”
    “Ravilan, if you want to go back up there, you’re welcome to. But I’d bring a team with some heavy equipment, because if we don’t get some supports under that ship, the next person who boards could take it on its last flight.” Korsin set down the last pack and stretched his neck. “Where are
your
Massassi?”
    Ravilan stared. “All dead.”
    Korsin stepped free, at last, from the cabling he’d used to drag the sledge. The bonfire blazed invitingly. So why was he so cold?
    “Seelah.”
    “Where’s Devore?”
    He looked at her coldly. Seelah stood, her tarnished gold uniform flickering in the firelight. “Where
is
Devore?” he repeated.
    “He went up—” She stopped herself. No one was supposed to leave camp. And now, the look in Yaru Korsin’s eyes.
    She squeezed Jariad, who woke crying.
    The pep talk began as many of Korsin’s did—with a summation of Things Everyone Already Knows. But this speech was different, because there were so many things nobody knew, himself included. The assurance that Naga Sadow still valued their cargo rang true for all, and while they were clearly a long way from anywhere, few could imagine the Sith Lord’s desire exceeding his reach. Even if they were less sanguine about what Sadow felt about
them
, Korsin knew his crew would accept that someone, somewhere, was looking for them.
    They just didn’t need to know how long that might take. It was too soon for that. Sadow, he would figure out later. This place couldn’t be about what was next. It had to be about now.
    By the speech’s end, Korsin found himself growingunusually philosophical: “It was our destiny to land on this rock—and we are bound to our destiny. For a time, it looks like, we’re also bound to this rock,” he said. “So be it. We’re Sith. Let’s make it ours.”
    He looked toward a satellite campfire and spotted Gloyd and the remains of his gunnery crew bristling against the breeze. He waved them to the main bonfire. It would be another hard night, Korsin knew, and the supplies he’d brought would soon run out.
    But he knew something else. Something he’d seen, that no one else had.
    The winged beast had carried a rider.
    The Force was with them.
    Gripping her son, Seelah watched the circle break. Nodding, human Sith set to their tasks, stepping around Ravilan, the master without Massassi. He stood aloof, commiserating with the Red Sith and the few other surviving aliens. Energized and triumphant, Yaru Korsin conferred with Gloyd—keeping his confidences, as he always had, to the huge alien. Too strong to be defeated, too stupid to betray him—and dumb to the Force. The perfect ally.
    Turning away from the Houk, Korsin saw Seelah. A new land to be broken to his will, and no one to stand in his way. He smiled.
    Seelah returned his gaze coldly. Thinking of Devore,